The Case for a TVA Regional Commission

The Case for a TVA Regional Commission
Dr. Stephen Smith, Executive Director, Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition (TVERC)
submitted to the Chattanooga Times on 6/30/97

Despite TVA Chairman Craven Crowell's soothing words to the contrary, TVA is an agency in crisis. Never before in the history of the TVA experiment has the agency been in such a precarious financial position -- it has a $27 billion dollar debt, has been in the red for five straight quarters, and has lost $190 million this year alone. When these serious financial problems are coupled with coming electric utility deregulation, which will increase regional and national competition by removing TVA's claim to "captive customers," and with TVA Chairman Craven Crowell's wildly unpopular proposal to jettison TVA's non-power functions, TVA's situation looks even more bleak. The last straw may be when electricity rates rise by as much as 10 per cent this fall and 10 years of stable rates come to an end. TVA will have complacent customers no more. Nor should it.

How the residents of the Tennessee Valley deal with TVA's current crisis will have enormous consequences for our future. At present, two strategies appear to be in play. The first is what I would call the "duck and cover" strategy, which is the one favored by TVA managers and many of our current federal representatives in Congress. The second is the much more proactive "plan the work then work that plan" strategy favored by Nashville Representative Bob Clement, and others from the valley. The linchpin of this strategy is the creation of an independent regional commission to study and build consensus on TVA's future.

Those who favor the first approach argue that we should focus all of our energies on trying to hold on to the non-power program, and "duck" or ignore all of TVA's financial, accountability, and other problems for as long as we can. Only when someone forces our hand should we deal with the other stickier problems. The proponents of this approach are painting themselves as TVA's true friends because they are trying to save the agency's non-power programs, but in the long term they are actually playing right into the hands of TVA's critics. There are at least two reasons for this: first, the debate about utility restructuring is already happening nation wide, everywhere, that is, except in the Tennessee Valley where TVA continues to act like a multi-billion dollar ostrich with its head stuck firmly in the sand. Second, and most importantly, by maintaining a strict focus on only the non-power programs, citizens in the Valley are forfeiting their opportunity and right to have a voice in how TVA's power program will move into a deregulated and competitive utility market. TVA's critics would love nothing more than to have the agency in disarray and its customers distracted and uninvolved when deregulation legislation is being drawn up in the next year or so. If we don't take control of our future there are plenty of folks outside the region who will.

Proponents of the second strategy also favor saving the non-power programs, but recognize that there are also larger, more serious, problems overshadowing the non-power programs. If Chairman Crowell's handling of the non-power program is any indication, TVA's ability to deal with the coming deregulation and the serious financial challenges it faces should not be left to the agency alone. The regional commission would not be, contrary to Chairman Crowell's claims, an agency of permanent oversight for TVA. It would be a discreet, twelve month study that would bring together the many diverse interests with a stake in TVA's future, to take a hard critical look at the current situation, and make solid recommendations to Congress, the President and TVA about how the agency should move forward. Some would have us believe that Congress can do this on their own, but with all due respect to our elected representatives, they have neither the time nor the technical expertise to do the kind of in-depth study of TVA that the current situation requires. Since 1988, there have been only two, half-day oversight meetings of TVA in Congress. The commission would have the professional staff of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory supporting their review.

All of us who are committed to TVA's future need to speak up and challenge our leaders to confront the issues of TVA head-on with meaningful public involvement. For TVA management, the "duck and cover" approach allows them to carry on as always, diverting the attention of Congress and the people of the Tennessee Valley from the crisis that looms ahead. For members of Congress, the exclusive focus on the non-power side allows them to score political points while pushing the horny and difficult questions off to the future. They hope to create the illusion that the TVA situation is under control. If we want to save TVA, the people of the Valley need to be involved in charting its future course. The regional commission is the only plan out there that gives us that opportunity.